Bancroft aims to tame England's swing king

Australia opener Cameron Bancroft expects early swing at the WACA Ground in the third Magellan Ashes Test but nothing quite like the magical movement wizard James Anderson produced with the pink ball in Adelaide.

Anderson mesmerised Australia's top order late on day three of the second Test with prodigious swing as part of his maiden five-wicket haul on these shores.

Bancroft was the veteran's first victim under the Adelaide Oval floodlights and said Test batting doesn't get any tougher than what Anderson delivered a week ago.

"When he's able to swing the ball like that, he's extremely hard work and he's very, very damaging," Bancroft told reporters in Perth on Monday.

"No matter what's going on it's bloody hard work when the ball is swinging like that.

"You can have the best game plan in the world but there can be a ball with your name on it.

"I thought the little patch where (David) Warner and (Usman) Khawaja were batting in the second innings, that's as hard as it gets.

"That just showed you two really good scorers in cricket, very fluent scorers, found it very, very difficult."

Fortunately for Bancroft and his fellow batsmen, the most difficult batting conditions in the series are now behind them.

The final three Tests in the Ashes series are day games and on wickets in Perth and Melbourne that have been flat and conducive to run scoring this summer, while last summer's Sydney Test saw the Aussies motor along at 4.66 an over, scoring 779 runs for the loss of 10 wickets.

The sight of a green pitch in the middle of the WACA Ground on Monday will likely be trimmed down in the days leading up to the Test and bake in temperatures forecast to reach 35 degrees.

While Bancroft says the new ball "definitely swung a little bit" in the three JLT Sheffield Shield matches at the WACA Ground this season, he knows there are runs on offer if he can survive the early examination.

"Always in the first session at the WACA it can be quite hard work, but like anything, if you're willing to put in the hard yards early you can reap rewards later in the game," Bancroft said.

"It's such a fast outfield that you don't have to worry too much about scoring, the ball goes through the infield and you instantly get two even if you don't hit it really well. That's the beauty of playing at the WACA.

"And hopefully if we can do that and keep wearing their bowlers down, we can give ourselves the best chance to get guys to make big scores and post big scores as a team too."

Bancroft knows what he's talking about. In his last Shield match at the WACA Ground a month ago, he posted a career-best 228no to cement his place in Australia's first Test XI at the Gabba.

He batted for 351 balls against a four-pronged South Australian pace attack including ace swing bowler Chadd Sayers.

But the right-hander is ready for Anderson and co should they ball move in the air after honing his technique at the home of the enemy.

"The last couple of years I've been able to play some county cricket in England where the ball does move a lot more sideways – swing and off the wickets as well," he said.

"I've gone through ups and downs there and patches where I've done really, really well.

"That's an important part of developing a good game plan for things like that."

2017-18 International Fixtures

Magellan Ashes Series

Australia Test squad: Steve Smith (c), David Warner (vc), Cameron Bancroft, Usman Khawaja, Peter Handscomb, Shaun Marsh, Mitchell Marsh, Tim Paine (wk), Mitchell Starc, Pat Cummins, Nathan Lyon, Josh Hazlewood, Jackson Bird.

England Test squad: Joe Root (c), James Anderson (vc), Moeen Ali, Jonny Bairstow, Jake Ball, Gary Ballance, Stuart Broad, Alastair Cook, Mason Crane, Tom Curran, Ben Foakes, Dawid Malan, Craig Overton, Ben Stokes, Mark Stoneman, James Vince, Chris Woakes.

First Test Australia won by 10 wickets. Scorecard

Second Test Australia won by 120 runs (Day-Night). Scorecard

Third Test WACA Ground, December 14-18. Tickets

Fourth Test MCG, December 26-30. Tickets

Fifth Test SCG, January 4-8 (Pink Test). Tickets

Gillette ODI Series v England

First ODI MCG, January 14. Tickets

Second ODI Gabba, January 19. Tickets

Third ODI SCG, January 21. Tickets

Fourth ODI Adelaide Oval, January 26. Tickets

Fifth ODI Perth Stadium, January 28. Tickets

Prime Minister's XI

PM's XI v England Manuka Oval, February 2. Tickets

Gillette T20 trans-Tasman Tri-Series

First T20I Australia v NZ, SCG, February 3. Tickets

Second T20I – Australia v England, Blundstone Arena, February 7. Tickets

Third T20I – Australia v England, MCG, February 10. Tickets

Fourth T20I – NZ v England, Wellington, February 14

Fifth T20I – NZ v Australia, Eden Park, February 16

Sixth T20I – NZ v England, Seddon Park, February 18

Final – TBC, Eden Park, February 21